Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M Ltd) announced its second foray into Turkey through the acquisition of Erkunt Traktor Sanayii A.S. (Erkunt), the fourth largest tractor brand in Turkey. This transaction is expected to close by the last quarter of calendar year 2017.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd displayed its first-ever driverless tractor, developed at the Mahindra Research Valley, the Group’s hub of innovation and technology located in Chennai. With this launch, Mahindra becomes the pioneer in the Indian tractor industry with the unique proposition of a driverless tractor, according to the company.

The equipment industry is in constant evolution where there is not just product innovation but also application innovation. New technology also creates new opportunities and improved ways of using equipment.

Leading commercial vehicle (CV) players witnessed double-digit growth in sales during July 2017. Tata Motors reported a 15 per cent growth in sales of commercial vehicles at 27,842 units. According to the company, a ramp-up of BS-IV production.

Construction equipment market in India has evolved and become a major one in the global market place. With the evolution of the market, awareness about the various equipment class and their use, and above all, the construction and infrastructure development activities picking up momentum, the equipment finance market has opened up to all equipment categories.

Mahindra Construction Equipment opened a new dealership facility in Dimapur, Nagaland with PL Bagri and Co, a full range dealership with sales, services, and spares facility. The company also introduced its Earthmaster range of backhoe loader during the event.

Backhoe loaders have been the superstar of construction equipment as well as the material handling industry since quite a long time. Be it building sites, roadwork areas or places where earthmoving is required, backhoe loaders can be spotted everywhere.

When the 60 winning cities (with proposals worth over Rs 1.31 lakh crore) become smart, it is expected to positively impact the lives of 72 crore urban population. While Rs 1.05 lakh crore will be spent on area-based development plans, Rs 26,141 crore will be spent on pan-city solutions in the next five years.

The construction equipment segment in India has something to cheer about from the Budget measures such as more fund allocation to rural roads and highways construction, and announcement of infrastructure status to affordable housing.